Eco Friendly Kitchen Cabinet Options

Any time you are considering a home renovation, one of the first rooms on your list is probably the kitchen. There’s a short list of home upgrades that make a real difference in the value of your property, and kitchen improvements probably top it. The kitchen is one of the most used rooms in your home. It’s where the family congregates for meals and catch up conversations, and often the spot where most folks at a party end up gathering. But kitchen renovations aren’t only costly, they’re also environmentally expensive. Any renovations involve throwing out old, degrading pieces, and if you’re renovating a home that’s several decades old you have no guarantee that quality, natural materials were used. Then there’s the ecological price of anything new you bring in. If you’re considering updates to your kitchen cabinets, you might want to keep in mind some of these eco friendly options.

Your best choice may be figuring out a way to reuse the cabinets you currently have in there. If the cabinets are made of a quality wood product, there may not be anything actually wrong with them. You can probably bring them back to life by sanding down the old finish and adding a new lacquer or paint job. Then you can finish off the new look with some upgraded hardware, and you should be good to go. The best part of this approach is that it will cost you next to nothing, and in most cases you’ll be able to do the work yourself.

If your kitchen cabinets are falling apart and you simply must replace them, consider looking for sustainable wood materials. Basically, there are certainly wood farms that grow their product in a sustainable manner, chopping down trees in a rotation so that the land isn’t damaged. There are also forests that are managed by conservancies, to make sure they are harvested responsibly. They’ll also leave the old growth trees alone, protecting ancient forests that should be preserved. Look for wood that comes with a FSC certification, so you know it has been grown in this manner. You might also want to consider a material like bamboo. Bamboo is considered one of the most environmentally sustainable building materials, because it grows incredibly quickly. It’s also beautiful and quite strong, so it will last a long time as well.

Since the goal of environmentally sustainable building is always to use natural materials, look for some other options along those lines. One interesting choice these days is composite wood. Don’t worry, this isn’t anything like using drywall for your cabinetry. In the past you were always told to utilize solid wood, as these products were always expected to last longer. But with modern construction methods, you should be able to find cabinets made of composite wood that will hold up well. They’re crafted of wood scraps, so they don’t require cutting down nearly as many trees. And they’re manufactured with the same methods used today in structural beams and wood flooring, so you don’t have to worry about their durability. They also come in a range of styles, so you should be able to find something that fits your design ideas.